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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29940837">Eyes and Ears</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miraculous_Content/pseuds/Miraculous_Content'>Miraculous_Content</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>MC-Lukanette's "No Context" November 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Confession, Cuddling, Discussion of Visual and Auditory Interpretation, Endgame Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, F/M, kiss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:26:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,761</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29940837</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miraculous_Content/pseuds/Miraculous_Content</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette works with her eyes. Luka works with his ears. Marinette still doesn't how he does it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>MC-Lukanette's "No Context" November 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2200050</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Eyes and Ears</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="copy">
  <p>Marinette didn’t quite understand how Luka did it, turning sounds into something that could be analyzed and detected with near-perfect precision. The best she could do was turn sounds into focus, and even <em>that</em> was an area she was lacking in.</p>
  <p>The clicking of her sewing machine as she slid her next piece along it.</p>
  <p>The scribbling of her pencil against the paper as she took notes.</p>
  <p>The slide of her hand against her sketchpad as she confirmed for the eleventh time that she was doing it correctly.</p>
  <p>And the unsteady breath she took as the sounds started to overwhelm her taxed brain.</p>
  <p><em>Lacking.</em> She was lacking so <em>badly</em> there.</p>
  <p>“Marinette,” Luka’s voice called gently from behind her.</p>
  <p>She straightened, the sound of his voice breaking off all the other sounds. The world distorted as she turned and looked at him with her best <em>“I’m definitely not tired but also don’t make me look at a bed please”</em> face.</p>
  <p>Now, <em>visual</em> cues; <em>that</em> was something that Marinette was much better at.</p>
  <p>She could see the way that Luka’s hands rested halfway on his guitar, likely having been tuning it but then stopped to watch her. Since Marinette hadn’t heard the sound of his guitar for the past couple of minutes, she imagined he’d been watching her for a while.</p>
  <p>She could see how his legs were crossed, just like they always were when he was relaxed and comfortable: right leg just slightly in front of the left, and shoulders eased down.</p>
  <p>His eyes, however, were watching her cautiously, vibrant with the life they always had but also showing a concern that hit Marinette immediately.</p>
  <p>She averted her gaze, the unsaid questions he had having already been delivered. “I-I’m fine,” she insisted, entirely unconvincingly.</p>
  <p>She paused, waiting for a reply. Her eyes slowly drew back to him without her consent, hoping that she hadn’t offended him by her obvious lie.</p>
  <p>He looked thoughtful, glancing at the guitar in his hands. His hands shifted, moving underneath the body and neck of the guitar, as if to lift it off of him. However, he didn’t fully lift it, only getting halfway there before looking back at her.</p>
  <p>He was offering “their usual” to her, she was sure. She bit her bottom lip, her hands clutching the arms of her chair as she tried to resist the temptation.</p>
  <p>The anxiety was still pounding away at her head.</p>
  <p>Slowly, she began to push herself off the chair, Luka now wasting no time in moving the guitar from his lap. She walked towards him, settling down in front of him on the chaise lounge. He stared at her with no judgment at all, his hands resting on his knees while his lap remained wide open for her.</p>
  <p>Marinette breathed up, then shifted, letting herself fall back into his chest. As always, he was warm, and his hands immediately went to hold hers.</p>
  <p>“M-my palms are probably sweaty,” she warned.</p>
  <p>He gave her hands a reassuring squeeze in response, leading Marinette to blush.</p>
  <p>She couldn’t remember exactly <em>when</em> they’d started doing this. She could only recall the exhaustion she’d felt at the time, and the way she almost seemed to fall naturally onto him. She remembered the way he held her, and how her anxiety slowly drained away as if each stroke to her back was rubbing it away. There was a silent agreement there, that they both enjoyed the moment and would happily do it again if needed.</p>
  <p>She was still tense now, but as she clutched his hands, she could start to forget about the sounds that had given her trouble.</p>
  <p>“I still don’t get how you do it,” she said softly, a bit ashamed. “The noises stress me out.”</p>
  <p>He smiled sympathetically at her. “It’s not something that everyone can do, Marinette.”</p>
  <p>“I figured,” she mumbled, “but this doesn’t <em>feel</em> like that. I think I’m just doing something wrong.”</p>
  <p>He looked away, deep in thought. She could see how his “methods” had been so ingrained already that he didn’t know how to explain it to her. Nonetheless, she appreciated his effort.</p>
  <p>“…Maybe it’s not about the sound,” he mused.</p>
  <p>She glanced up at him, untethering one of her hands from his as she turned to face him more. “What do you mean?”</p>
  <p>Luka furrowed his brows, clearly still forming an explanation in his head and perhaps even debating if it would be an acceptable answer at all. “Maybe… it’s how you’re listening to it.”</p>
  <p>She looked at him questioningly. He looked back, pulling his other hand away from her as well, which Marinette found strange since he immediately raised a hand to suggest that she give him hers.</p>
  <p>Still, she offered her hand to him, and Luka took it with great care. He guided it to his chest, right where his heart would be, then let her hand rest there as he pulled his own hand away.</p>
  <p>Marinette blushed, feeling the rhythmic thump against her palm. She glanced at him for instructions, but his expression suggested that she do whatever she was comfortable with. He trusted her to figure it out without him having to fumble through explaining it.</p>
  <p>Thus, she leaned forward, trying to focus on the <em>sound</em> and not the <em>feeling.</em> Her face tensed up, aware that she was trying too hard but unsure of what to take from a simple heartbeat. It probably didn’t help that she couldn’t exactly hear it well.</p>
  <p>Though hesitating, she understood that Luka trusted her and would tell her if she was doing something wrong, so she moved her hand and pressed the side of her face against his chest.</p>
  <p>Luka didn’t move, but she could hear his heartbeat as it picked up speed. She stiffened, immediately getting the impression that he was nervous and that she should pull away. It was making her nervous herself.</p>
  <p>However, just as she went to say something, she felt his arms wrap around her. She squeaked, noting that he didn’t pull her closer but still kept his arms around her.</p>
  <p>The thumping was still just as fast as it was before.</p>
  <p>She was wrong, she realized. He wasn’t nervous; he <em>couldn’t</em> have been if he’d been so eager to rest his hands on her. A fast heartbeat could mean so many different things, and she was interpreting the sound to be something bad.</p>
  <p>She’d fixated on the stab of the sewing machine into the clothes instead of the way it was cleanly stitching away.</p>
  <p>She’d fixated on the pressure of her pencil against the paper instead of the consistently smooth lines it created as it went.</p>
  <p>She’d fixated on the weight of her hand on her sketchpad instead of the comfort of her sketchpad being there.</p>
  <p>It wasn’t <em>just</em> about the sound; the <em>emotion</em> was important too. She was fixating on all the wrong feelings while letting the sounds overwhelm her. It was no wonder why she’d gotten stressed.</p>
  <p>And now, knowing that Luka wasn’t nervous, the sound of his heartbeat only brought her comfort. There was only the thumping of his heart, the steadiness of his breathing, and the sound of skin against denim as she slid her hand down his jacket.</p>
  <p>She paused, not quite ready to pull away, but shifted just slightly so she could look up at him. Already, she missed the sound of his heartbeat.</p>
  <p>He must’ve noticed her eyes glowing with the knowledge she’d gained, given how he smiled at her. She smiled back, slightly dazed but more than capable of focusing on him.</p>
  <p>She focused on his grin; the way it was just slightly wider than the one he’d give to anyone else.</p>
  <p>She focused on his eyes; how they so easily lit up the room without any effort on his part.</p>
  <p>Then, she focused on his cheeks, which were just pink enough for her to notice.</p>
  <p>Marinette heard another thump, but it wasn’t Luka’s heartbeat this time.</p>
  <p>“I…” She swallowed, lightly touching her chin. “I think I got it.”</p>
  <p>There was the sound of the breath he let out, followed by the feeling that he was relieved that he’d managed to make her understand it. “Glad I could help. I know it was bothering you.”</p>
  <p>She blinked, still dazed. Her hand traveled to his shoulder, gliding slowly towards his neck. “<em>Yeah…</em>”</p>
  <p>Her fingers trailed along his neck, Luka letting out a noise of surprise.</p>
  <p>But not a feeling of displeasure.</p>
  <p>“M-marinette?”</p>
  <p>Marinette looked up at him, her palm coming to rest along the back of his neck. Her other hand gripped the flap of his jacket, and the next thing she heard was the light pecking sound of her lips against his.</p>
  <p>She heard Luka squeak—huh, she didn’t think he could even <em>make</em> that sound—followed by a content hum as he leaned into her. His hand moved to copy hers, resting on the back of her neck and becoming a comforting presence to reassure her that he enjoyed this just as much as she did. She was vaguely more aware of reality at that point, but the rest of the world seemed so much less interesting when she was kissing <em>Luka freaking Couffaine.</em></p>
  <p>Her thumb stroked where his hair met his neck. He stiffened at the gesture, but clearly enjoyed it, pulling her close and shifting her for comfort’s sake. She didn’t know how he did it, but she was <em>indeed</em> as comfortable as she imagined she could be.</p>
  <p>They held the kiss for a few seconds longer, then let out a small gasp for air as they pulled away in unison, though remaining a breath’s distance away from each other. Marinette felt certain that her face was red, but she was nonetheless focused on Luka’s reaction.</p>
  <p>He stared at her fondly at first, then blinked before going wide-eyed, as if what had happened had only just now registered with him. He looked around, then stared back at her with a blush on his face.</p>
  <p>“You—” He took a moment to breathe, and Marinette heard his confusion, delight, and <em>hope,</em> all at once. “You… weren’t supposed to listen to my heart <em>that</em> much, Marinette.”</p>
  <p>She gaped lightly at him, then smiled. “I didn’t.”</p>
  <p>The sound of her voice must’ve given away what she’d say next, as Luka’s gaze went from shy to <em>soft.</em> When she leaned into him, he was quick to envelop her in his arms. She nuzzled him, and Luka nuzzled back as he buried his face into her hair.</p>
  <p>Softly, Marinette confirmed, “I was listening to <em>mine.</em>”</p>
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